


The ice incident

by Multidixney66



Series: The forest dwellers [1]
Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Child Abandonment, Child Abuse, Protective Barley Lightfoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27719824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multidixney66/pseuds/Multidixney66
Summary: Ian and Barley go out into town to gather up some supplies but a quick trip to town becomes a struggle for survival.
Relationships: Barley Lightfoot & Ian Lightfoot, Protective Barley - Relationship
Series: The forest dwellers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027530
Kudos: 5





	The ice incident

"Thanks for letting me come with you to get some supplies" Ian said as he limped along with Barley right by him.

"Of course little brother! You know I wasn't going to leave you out there in the cabin alone." Barley said with a smile as they walked into the small town, which was close by the cabin they now live in.

Ian was only 10 when their Mom had kicked them out, a few years after that though, Ian had gotten an infection by a unicorn biting him on his leg.

They immediately took him to the hospital and the doctors had to amputate his leg, now he uses crutches to get around.

Laurel and Colt were ok with Ian's New way of living for awhile, until Ian had turned 10 and Barley had turned 12.

Laurel and Colt suddenly changed out of the blue, they drank a lot of alcohol almost every day and night until they were drunk out of their minds, drunk enough to start abusing Ian and Barley.

Barley had tried to protect his little brother the best he could, until one day, their parents had enough of them and caring for Ian.

Late at night, Barley was asleep in his room when he suddenly heard Ian screaming for him, Barley immediately got up and ran out of his room to see their Mom holding Ian in an unusual and unsafe way and walking towards the front door, which was open.

She threw him out and Barley gasped, he was about to run to Ian to make sure he was alright, but Colt had caught him and threw him out of the house too "and don't you two even think about coming back here ever!" Colt yelled at them and they slammed the door shut.

Barley was in shock, Ian crying uncontrollably beside him, Barley gathered his little brother in his arms and comforted him the best he could.

And that's how they ended up living in the streets, trying to find food to survive and make it through the cold nights, it wasn't until Ian was 13 and Barley was 15 that they had found the cabin deep in the woods.

They had just stolen some food from a market stand and were running into the woods, they hid behind a leaf covering a cave entrance.

They went inside and found the cabin, it was an old abandoned one, but it had to do for the night.

Now Ian is 15 and Barley is 19, they've been living in the woods for 2 years now and honestly, they're happy that way.

"Barley?" Barley shook his head and looked at Ian "I'm sorry bud, what's wrong?" He asked concerned, worried that something might have happened to him while he was thinking.

Thankfully, Ian had a huge smile on his face and pointed towards the frozen lake, "can I go over there and watch them?" 

Barley looked over to the lake where he saw kids ice skating with their parents, "hmmm, I don't know Ian." He said thoughtfully as they stopped in front of a store.

"Please? I promise to be careful." Ian said as his hands clasped together in front of him, giving Barley his famous puppy dog eyes.

Barley smiled and rolled his eyes "oh, not the puppy dog eyes, oh alright you can go, be careful!" Barley yelled out to Ian, who was already making his way to the lake "I will! Promise!" Barley smiled and walked towards the store.

* * *

Once Barley had everything that he thinks they needed for the next few weeks, he quietly snuck out of the store and ran to the lake to get Ian.

He looked around for his little brother until he heard him "hey Barley! Look!" Barley looked over and Saw Ian watching a couple of kids playing on the ice, he was standing on it, but just on the Very edge of the lake.

Barley just stood there and watched Ian as he watched the kids play for a few minutes, smiling softly.

Barley's attention was caught by a flash of red, and he turned to see a cardinal landing gracefully by a bush nearby. He watched it curiously, the birds head tilting, almost questioningly, at Barley.

He blinked when the bird startled, (he wasn’t sure what by), and took off into the air, circling above them before disappearing. He sighed, watching until it was out of sight before calling over his shoulder.

“Hey Ian, we should head back to the-”

He rubbed his hands together, shivering as he turned back to where Ian should have been, instead seeing empty ice. 

His heart seemed to stop as he stared at the empty pond, the wind whistling as it blew around him.

“ian?”

It was quiet, the silence only broken by a child's laughter in the distance, families playing at the park beside the pond or walking along the sidewalk.

And then he saw movement.

He wasn’t sure why he didn’t see the break in the ice before..maybe it was shock. As soon as he realized what had happened, he dropped the bags and lunged forward, scrambling to the ice where Ian had disappeared. His fingers burned with the cold as he shoved his hands in the water, searching desperately for the other.

“Help!!” He screamed, keeping his focus on the water as he yelled to get the attention of anyone. “H-HELP!”

His hand brushed against skin, and his mind filled with a mixture of panic and relief as he grabbed onto an arm, pulling Ian up.

He broke the surface, gasping for air as he scrambled for a hold on Barley, choking on water and trying to stay afloat, fingers twisting and grabbing onto Barley's shirt. He was missing his crutches, the heavy winter coats and scarf soaking wet, feeling like a weight dragging the elf down to a grave.

“I,I’ve got you, Ian, I’ve got you-”

There was a sickening crack that sounded in the air, making Barley's blood run cold. He barely had time to move, or even scream, before the ice gave away under him, sending them both plummeting into the icy water.

The shock and burning of the icy water hit him like a punch, knocking the air out of him as he sunk into the water. He kept a hold on Ian's arm, struggling to keep them both afloat as his hands scrambled uselessly on the ice. His limbs became heavy and uncooperative, his heavy clothes and boots dragging him down as his head dipped below the water. 

He sputtered on the water, pushing Ian up so he could at least stay above. He was struggling, pushing back against Barley's hands in blind panic and causing them both to just sink further.

“i-ian, d-d-don’t fight, Ia-” 

His teeth were chattering, the words slow and slurred as he tried to calm the other down. 

“i-ia-ian, I, I ne-need you..”

He wasn’t listening, sobbing and choking as he thrashed in the water, it became more and more of a struggle to keep moving as the seconds ticked by. Barley managed to grab onto the ice and brace them against it, keeping them just above the surface as he attempted to calm Ian down.

It was awful, listening to his panicked, hitching sobs and pleas, weak hands clawing at Barley's arms like he was an enemy. He clearly wasn’t registering what was happening, pure fight or flight taking over.

Barley wrapped his arm around ian's torso to hold him as still as he could, trying to grab hold of the ice so they wouldn’t sink. It was taking every bit of energy he had to not let go of Ian, hating the way he struggled, although it was getting weaker by the second.

What was worse though, was when Ian stopped struggling. 

“i-ian?” The boy's movement had slowed, and eventually he went completely limp, head resting on Barley's shoulder as he held the two up. He gripped the ice tightly, not daring to even move an inch as he eyed people starting to gather, two centaurs and a troll rigging a rope to throw to them. His chest heaved as he gasped for air, the cold making his lungs scream with the effort.

There were people yelling, trying to talk to Barley and tell him to stay still, but his focus was solely on Ian, who was motionless.

“i-i-ian? N-Need you to st-stay awake..p-please stay a-a-awake.”

He could feel his little brother's shaky breaths against his neck, a small but welcome reassurance he was still alive.

P-Please, i-ian, wake u-up,”

He gasped and held on tighter as Ian started to slip from his arms, Barley's muscles seizing with the effort it took to hold onto him. There was a rope being tossed towards them now, more yelling happening around them. It was disorienting, but Barley kept himself focused as best he could, an unsteady hand inching forward to grab onto it.

There was an ambulance now, lights flashing and reflecting on the water as more people gathered, and alarm made its way to the front of Barley's mind at the idea of people seeing them. 

They still had their bags of stolen items, Barley knew. 

He managed to grab onto the rope, gripping it and refusing to let himself let go, even as his muscles seized when they started pulling. He held onto Ian no matter how hard it got, getting pulled inch by inch further onto the ice, until both their bodies were almost completely out of the water. 

There were hands pulling him apart from Ian, a paramedic hurrying him towards the ambulance. It was all a blur of motion, his legs threatening to give out as he stumbled, being ushered to sit down and have his jacket taken before he could register what was happening.

He caught sight of Ian, which made him focus, and his heart dropped at how he looked. He was still unconscious, pliant as the paramedics moved him around, his lips blue.

She wrapped Ian in towels. She moved quickly, shoving a bottle of pills to Barley, who took it clumsily.

“These are for if he starts getting pneumonia. They should help at least a little. You need to get him somewhere warm, where he has access to fever reducers if he needs them.”

She tossed a towel to Barley, who caught it and wrapped it around his shoulders, nodding.

"Can you make a run for it with him? Do you have a place to take him?”

“y-Yes..yea I-I do.” Barley said quickly, teeth chattering. “I can...I-I can get him somewhere safe.”

“Good.” She handed Ian to him, and he held the boy in his arms easily. “Now go, before somebody says anything.”

* * *

It was so dark...and cold. He was sinking, he couldn’t breathe, something was dragging him down deeper and deeper and he couldn’t see-

Ian could remember standing at the very edge of the ice, he could remember Barley and something breaking and a scream. He remembered choking on water and it was so cold, he couldn’t move and something was dragging him down..

He drifted, it seemed, caught in the awful memory of what happened but struggling to tell where he was, unable to wake up or snap out of it, it seemed. He fought hard to focus, to try and come back to himself, but it was so cold..something was dragging him down..

Maybe it was better like this. It wasn’t as cold if he stopped fighting..it didn’t hurt as bad to just let go. Maybe it would be better to just sleep for a little while…

It hurt to try and wake up, so he didn’t.

* * *

It was cold, when he finally woke up. He didn’t want to, but his mind seemed to have had enough of drifting, seeming to grab him and yank him back to awareness. He curled up tighter, feeling someone against him, holding him securely.

“-uo awake buddy?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, wishing he could just fall back asleep so he didn’t have to be cold anymore. He could still feel the water around him, pulling him down, filling his lungs and choking him as he clawed desperately for air.

“ian?”

He was falling, there was yelling, he remembered Barley.. Barley asking him to stay awake..it was so hard to stay awake..

“Hey..hey you’re ok, it's ok.”

The voice was soothing, and it was enough to prompt Ian to open his eyes. His vision was blurred at first, eyes struggling to focus as he tiredly came back to awareness, groaning softly.

He was greeted by the sight of a familiar room..he was back at the cabin, he registered. His eyes drifted around the room, landing on the black bags that had their supplies still in it.

He startled a little when he felt hands gently holding him tighter, and he tried pushing away in a flash of panic as he tried to get a grasp on what had happened.

“Whoa, you’re ok Ian, it's me!"

It was Barley, Ian realized, and instantly relaxed. He was shivering, despite being wrapped in layer upon layer of blankets, tucked securely against Barley on the bed they share at night. He coughed weakly, whimpering at the pain in his throat and chest. Everything hurt, his limbs aching and muscles tight from shaking.

“Gave me quite the scare there, bud.” He hummed, hugging Ian tightly. He was a little warmer than before, held like this. It felt safer.

“W-What-what happened?”

“You fell through the ice, had to fish you out,”

He hummed in reply, teeth chattering. Barley rubbed his arm to try and help warm him up some more, face knit in an expression of worry as the younger boy coughed.

“H-Hurts..”

“I know,” Barley soothed. “You have a little bit of a fever, you might feel awful for a bit. You’re ok though, promise.”

He nodded, resting his head against Barley's chest. drinking in the feeling of being safe, letting his eyes close as he warmed up, little by little. Eventually his teeth stopped chattering, and he focused on the soft, comforting and familiar sounds around him as he drifted again. 

There were soft murmurs and the sound of the wind blowing outside, all feeling blissfully familiar and safe to Ian. This was safe, he was safe. This was home.


End file.
